The views expressed in this blog are based entirely on personal tastes and opinions. They should not be construed as professional reviews in anyway. Any resemblance to actual reviews, living or deceased, is entirely coincidental.

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Buko Nero

C says:

The thing about Buko Nero is that if you
don't make your next reservation while you're still there finishing up your
current meal, you kind of lose the groove and end up not going for ages. That,
coupled with just too many new places to try, meant a hiatus of almost a year
since our last visit.

The set up still hasn't changed, with Oscar running the kitchen solo and Tracy
running front of house. Their 5-course set dinner is still a steal at $55,
especially given the audacious prices that some places are charging these days.

Amuse bouche was a hard boiled egg puree on a crisp crostini topped with confit
tomato. Light, fresh and a great start to the meal.

Salad was a simple green salad with sliced nashi pear, tossed in a balsamic
vinaigrette. It was simple but perfectly seasoned, with the ingredients paired
surprisingly well.

I really like Oscar's light cream soups, so was slightly disappointed with the
crabmeat and coriander bisque. It was more like a clear crab consomme thickened
with beaten egg, a bit like an egg drop soup. The coriander was fairly subtle
but I still have trouble getting used to the flavour.

After the white peach and calamansi sherbet, A had the rigatoni with salmon
ragu that was part of the set, and I changed the main to one of the day's
specials - a tagliatelle with lobster and porcini mushroom in a bisque sauce.
The tagliatelle was great, really flavourful yet rustic. The rigatoni was okay,
but a bit too typical.

The dessert was a ricotta cheesecake drizzled with honey, and served with a
raspberry gelato. The cheesecake with honey was outstanding; perfect end to the
meal.

Despite some newcomers on the restaurant scene that we're clearly enamoured
with, I still have a soft spot for Buko Nero. A visit there always makes us
happy, and while once a month is a bit of a stretch, we'd ideally like to head
back maybe every quarter. If we can get a reservation, that is.

A
says:

Brilliant cheesecake. Very good meal. Pity
it’s so hard to get a last minute reservation.